Realizing the glory and knowledge of a God-realized Sadhu is the essence of satsang. 

GLORY OF SADHU – GEM 1

“A Sant with such a conviction is so highly respected by Me that even I place the dust of his feet on My head. In My mind, I am afraid of harming him, and I also long to have his darshan.” (Vachanamrut: Gadhada I – 37) 

GLORY OF SADHU – GEM 2

“…by seeking the refuge of the Satpurush, regardless of how terrible a sinner a person may be, he becomes extremely pure.” (Vachanamrut: Vartal – 14)

GLORY OF SADHU – GEM 3

“If a person develops conviction in the guru – who is the manifest form of God – in the same way that he has conviction in the non-manifest demigods, then, as a result, he attains all of the arthas* which are decribed as attainable.” (Vachanamrut: Gadhada III – 2).

* Here ‘Arthas’ should be understood as ‘Purusharths’ – Dharma, Artha, Kam and Moksha.

GLORY OF SADHU – GEM 4

“ What are the characteristics of a Sant who is worthy of being worshipped on par with God? Well, such a Sant suppresses the actions of Maya’s gunas – the indriyas, the antahkaran, etc; but he himself does not get suppressed by their actions. In addition to this, he only performs activities related to God; he is staunch in his observance of the five religious vows; and believing himself to be brahmarup, he worships Purushottam Bhagwan. Such a Sant should not be thought of as a human being, nor should he be thought of as a demigod, because such behavior is not possible for either humans or demigods. (Vachanamrut: Gadhada III – 26)

Observance of niyams means obeying moral and spiritual commands. 

OBSERVACNE OF NIYAMS – Gem 1 

“Whethere or not one has vairagya, if one diligently observes the niyams prescribed by God, then the desires for the panchvishays can be conquered.” (Vachanamrut: Gadhada II-16) 

OBSERVANCE OF NIYAMS – Gem 2

“… One should indulge in the vishays only as prescribed in the scriptures; but one should never indulge in them by transgressing the regulations that are described in the scriptures.” (Vachanamrut: Gadhada I-8)

OBSERVANCE OF NIYAMS – Gem 3

“If Brahma and all the other demigods follow God’s commands, than how can I not follow His injunctions? Bearing this in mind, he always abides by the niyams prescribed by God.” (Vachanamrut: Vartal-3) 

OBSERVANCE OF NIYAMS – Gem 4

“Like a village that has a fort, life too has forts in the form of five-cardinal vows. And in that, like the sentry point, we have niyams. Just as the sentry point protects the fort, the niyams protect the vows. So know the laxity in niyams as breaches in life.” (Swmini Vato: 5.100)

OBSERVANCE OF NIYAMS – Gem 5

“The bonds of dharma do not bind, but are the means to liberation.” – Pramukh Swami Maharaj

Discarding one’s ego and behaving with servitude and respect towards God, the Satpurush and devotees is known as nirmanipanu (Humility).

HUMILITY – Gem 1

“The enjoyment which one experiences from vanity cannot be obtained from any other object. Thus, amongst all devotees, a person who forsakes vanity and worships God should be known to be an extremely great devotee.” (Vachanamrut: Gadhada II – 41)

HUMILITY – Gem 2

“… It is not appropriate to be conceited before God or His Sant. Before them, putting conceit aside, behaving as a servant of servants and becoming humble is the only appropriate behavior.” (Vachanamrut: Panchala – 5)

HUMILITY – Gem 3

“… A person who remains arrogant due to the vanity of his gnan, vairagya and bhakti may be called great, but his greatness will be very limited; he does not imbibe the great virtues imbibed by a humble devotee.” (Vachanamrut: Gadhada I – 56)

HUMILITY – Gem 4

Dasna das thaine, vali je rahe Satsangma;

Bhakti teni bhali manish, rachish tena sangma.

 [“To one who stays in Satsang out of utter servitude, his bhakti I (Shriji Maharaj) shall behold as genuine and I shall enjoy his company.”] (Bhaktachintamani: 68.10)

HUMILITY – Gem 5

“What is Humility? To tolerate insults, attain absolute servitude, clean refuse heaps and pick up used leaf-plates.” - Yogiji Maharaj

HUMILITY – Gem 6

Nanese ho nane rahiye, jaise nani doob,

Ghas fis sab ood gaya, doob khoob ki khoob.

[“Be smaller than the small like a blade of grass, where as the stiff blade of grass (like an arrogant person) is rooted.”]

Tolerance is to forgive others and bear hardships.

TOLERANCE – Gem 1 

Since it is God who resides in all of the indriyas of such a Sant, that Sant is able to empower the indriyas of all beings in the brahmand. Therefore, such a Sant is the sustainer of the world. His greatness lies in the fact that he tolerates the insults delivered even by insignificant people. Only those who are forgiving in this manner should be considered to be extremely great. (Vachanamrut: Gadhada I-27)

TOLERANCE – Gem 2

If that Sant were to daily beat him five times with a pair of shows, he should still tolerate such insults, but just as opium addict cannot abandon his addiction, in no way should he abdandon his association with the Sant. Such a person should be known to be equal to the Sant mentioned earlier. Moreover, whatever that Sant attains, one who continues to profoundly associate with such a sant also attains. (Vachanamrut : Saranpur – 10)

TOLERANCE – Gem 3

Galidanam Tadanam cha krutam kumatibhirjanaihi

Kshantavyam eva sarvesham chintaniyam hitam chh taihi. (Shikshapatri : 201)

“They (Sadhus) shall always bear the abuses and insults hurled upon them by the wicked and also their beatings. Such acts should always be forgiven and the persecutors blessed for betterment in their life.”

TOLERANCE – Gem 4

“Tolerate praises and insults. One who tolerates is Ekantik.” – Yogiji Maharaj.

“When an aspirant is scolded he becomes happy. The virtue of tolerance is indispensable for one who wants liberation.” –  Pramukh Swami Maharaj.

SPIRITUAL DISCOURSES – Gem 1

Talks on the divine episodes of God and the Satpurush or discussions or explanations based on scriptures and topics related to religion are known as spiritual discourses (Katha).

“…one develops an aversion for the world in proportion to the attachment one has for listening to the talks and discourses related to God; moreover, vicious natures such as lust, anger, avarice, etc., are also destroyed to that extent. Conversely, if someone is lazy in listening to those talks and discourses, then one should infer that he will not imbibe noble virtues.” (Vachanamrut: Gadhada III – 24)

SPIRITUAL DISCOURSES – Gem 2

 “Moreover, the mind does not become as free of desires for vishays by subjecting the body to austere observances such as tapta-kruchchh, chandrayan or other vows as it does by listening to these discourses of God. In addition, your minds must not be becoming as stable while you are listening to these discourses. Thus, one should listen to the discourses of Purushottam Narayan with faith and love. There is no better method to stabilize the mind and to free it of the desires for vishays.” (Vachanamrut: Kariyani – 12)

SPIRITUAL DISCOURSES – Gem 3

 “…one should only hear the sacred scriptures from a holy person, but never from an unholy person.” (Vachanamrut: Loya – 11)

SPIRITUAL DISCOURSES – Gem 4

 “…My mind never becomes satiated with spiritual discourses, devotional songs, talk realted to God or meditation of God. All of you should also do the same.” (Vachanamrut: Gadhada II – 49)

SPIRITUAL DISCOURSES – Gem 5

 “One should forgo the profile of Rs. 25,000 and attend the Sunday assembly.” – Yogiji Maharaj

ACCEPTING GOOD QUALITIES – Gem 1

Looking at and imbibing the virtues of God, Satpurush and devotees tantamount to appreciating their qualities.

“Just as Dattatreya imbibed the virtues of the five bhuts, the moon, various animals, a prostitute, a virgin, his own body and others, similarly, only if a person has the disposition of imbibing the virtues of a Sadhu does his foundation in satsang become solid” (Vachanamrut : Loya – 5)

ACCEPTING GOOD QUALITIES – Gem 2

“…a person who is wise increasingly finds flaws within himself and perceives virtues in God and His devotees.” (Vachanamrut : Gadhada I-6)

ACCEPTING GOOD QUALITIES – Gem 3

“The more one continues to imbibe the virtues of the great Purush, the more one’s bhakti begins to flourish. In fact, if one realizes the truly great Purush to be absolutely lust-free, then, even if one is as lustful as a dog, one will also become lust-free. Conversely, if one perceives the fault of lust in the great Purush, then no matter how lust-free one may be, one becomes full of intense lust. In the same manner, if one views the great Purush to be full of anger or avarice, then one becomes full of anger and avarice. Therefore, if one understands the great Purush to be absolutely free of lust, avarice, taste, egotism and attachment, one will also become free of all of those evil natures and become a staunch devotee.” (Vachanamrut : Gadhada I-58)

ACCEPTING GOOD QUALITIES – Gem 4

“Sing the glory of God’s Devotee; by this the jiva can become brahmarup effortlessly.” (Swamini Vato : 4.140)

A command or agna is a moral and spiritual injunction (A formal command) prescribed by God, Satpurush and the scriptures,

1. “…only one who follows the commands of the Satpurush is behaving as the atma.” (Vachanamrut: Gadhada II-51)
2. “…although at the time there may not seem to be any benefit in observing the moral do’s and don’ts, one who does observe dharma by the command of a great Purush ultimately attains liberation – just as one receives cash from drafts.” (Vachanamrut: Gadhada II-6)
3. “…for a devotee of God, whatever misery he suffers is due to negligence in observing God’s injunctions for the sake of worthless objects; and whatever happiness he experiences is a result of following the injunctions of God.” (Vachanamrut: Gadhada I-34)
4. “All of the indriyas and antahkaran tremble with fear before a devotee who has courage. Also, he is not afraid of anyone. So, he does not transgress any of God’s injunctions in any way.” (Vachanamrut: Loya – 2)
5. “Greater is he who merely sits or does only what he is told by the holy Sadhu than he who willfully does the work of two people.” (Swamini Vato: 1.109)